What A Beautiful Day
by don't resist
Summary: She stared at me and blinked confused. /My name is Nara Shikamaru. And you are?/ Oh! I'm Hyuuga Hinata. It's a pleasure to meet you, Nara-san. /ShikaHina/ /Songfic/


What A Beautiful Day

_A ShikaHina Songfic_

00000

_Day one, I stumbled through hello on 5th Ave  
Day two, we grabbed a bite to eat  
And talked all afternoon  
Caught a movie on day fourteen  
And day sixty-seven she said "I love you" to me_

I was new to the city. I hadn't exactly been anywhere out of the country, except to a college class that only lasted a few hours. That, however is a different story. Ahem, anyway, I was walking down the streets, a suitcase in hand, looking for Tora Street on the cross of 8th Avenue. I thought I was lost, seeing as I was still looking for a street sign to point me towards 8th, and only ending up with 4th.

Sighing to myself, and continued walking down a street that looked like it headed towards my new apartment. I felt a little down. No one had spoken to me; no one wanted to speak to me. I had no one I knew there. Just as that thought spilled out of my head, I walked into someone shorter than me by about fifteen centimeters. I felt something hot stain my shirt and jacket and jumped back.

"Kuso…" I mumbled, resolving to swear instead of saying 'aw man' like any **other** country boys would do. I looked over at whoever I'd stumbled into, and shut right up.

She was pretty, to say the least. Her dark hair reached her waist and waved and curled at the curve of her hips. She had a pretty face. Soft eyes that seemed almost pupil-less, a button nose, gentle jaw. The bow of her lips was defiant though, obviously her most prominent facial feature.

I stared a few seconds at her lips, noticing they were caramel colored, probably from the coffee she'd just been… Coffee! I remembered and touched the stain. It was still pretty hot, and my chest was most definitely burned. I looked at her. "A-are you okay, Miss?" I asked, stumbling on my words.

She looked up at me, her mouth curved in an 'o'. She blinked a few times and smiled sweetly. "I'm fine." Her voice was melodic and, just like her every other feature, soft. She looked me over once, stopping at my chest to gasp and spill the remains of her coffee on the sidewalk. "I'm so sorry! I'm so clumsy!" She began tugging off her jacket and dabbing it at my chest.

I blushed furiously. I'd just met her. We hadn't even said hello. I didn't even know her name, and she was touching me. I really didn't know what to do, so I stood there, and let her. She looked up, blushing embarrassedly.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," I said, suppressing a blush that was building. "Why don't we start over?"

She stared at me and blinked confused.

"H-hello," I told her, bowing slightly. "My name's Nara Shikamaru. And, you are?"

"Oh!" She bowed. "I'm Hyuuga Hinata. It's a pleasure to meet you, Nara-san."

We stood awkwardly for a few moments. "I'm terribly sorry about your coffee. How about I get you some tomorrow? As an apology."

"Unfortunately, I'm busy in the morning, so coffee won't do," she explained. "Instead, why don't we catch lunch?"

"That would be nice."

She handed me a card and waved a little. "I ought to be going. I'll talk to you later, ne?"

When I nodded, she walked off. It was then that I forgot to ask directions to 8th and Tora.

The next day, I called her up and asked if one would be a suitable time to have lunch. She giggled over the phone and told me one was perfect.

"Where do you want to meet?"

"I know this great restaurant on 5th Avenue. I'll meet you in front of that coffee shop." 

I really had no clue what she was talking about, but I had a feeling it was where we met. So, at twelve o' clock on the dot, I was at the café, wondering if I was a little too early. I didn't want to seem desperate, but it seemed right, us meeting, us going to lunch today.

_Oh, what a feelin'  
What a wonderful emotion  
Yeah, what a life  
Counting my blessings and knowin'  
Ooh, we had our ups and downs  
All along the way  
She had a chance to leave  
But chose to stay  
What a beautiful day  
What a beautiful day_

"I think get what you mean," I told her, " but I'm still drawing a blank."

She giggled. "The company I work for designs clothes."

"So… you're famous?"

"In a secret sort of way." She giggled again.

I liked that. Her giggling. Her laughter. Her smile. It just fit.

Hours passed and we'd moved from the restaurant, which--- surprisingly enough--- didn't cost me an arm and a leg to pay for, and to the park, just talking. I don't know what we were talking about, but we were talking, and it felt great.

That was day two.

I counted the days since we'd met. It was day fourteen I asked her to see a movie with me. We didn't even care which movie it was, and just ended up renting an old black and white movie, sitting on her couch, and making funny comments.

Day sixty-seven I marked on my calendar. Most people ask why, and I tell them it was the day she told me I love you.

We were walking down the streets, and she jumped over a crack in the sidewalk. It was just a little game we'd remembered and decided to play and see how far we could get without falling over. I made it half a block, but she was still chugging along. Her laughter tinkled when she fell against me, stepping on a crack at last.

When her laughter died down, she smiled and looked up at me. "I love you," she whispered, kissing my cheek so lightly, it was as if she never even had.

_Day one-sixteen I asked her what she was doin'  
For the rest of my life  
Day one eighty- nine, oh I almost lost that girl  
To my foolish pride  
She said "I do"  
On day four eighty-two  
And gave me a son  
On day seven sixty-one_

I called her on the phone on day one hundred sixteen. She picked up on the first ring, knowing exactly who it was. "Hello, Shikamaru-kun," she sighed softly. I knew she'd just gotten home and had a bath running. She was probably lounging on the couch, waiting for the water to get high enough to climb in.

"Hey, Hinata-chan. I was wondering…"

"What is it?!" she asked, frightened that maybe I was breaking up with her.

I laughed softly. "What are you doing for the rest of my life?" She hung up.

I listened to the dial tone for a few moments before staring at the receiver and setting down my landline. I waited a little bit, wondering if her power went out. But, nine minutes later, when someone knocked on my door, I knew it wasn't true. I opened it, not really caring who it was. I had just been sulking for the past nine minutes.

She jumped up and tackled me down to the ground, kissing my cheeks, nose, forehead, chin and lips, whispering 'yes' every chance she could.

When I rolled over, atop her, and kissed her lips fully, I smiled softly down at her. "Does that mean…?"

"I'm going to stay by your side for the rest of our lives," she whispered, kissing my nose, "silly." It was as if she was wondering what the hell was wrong with me and why I hadn't asked before hand.

_Oh, what a feelin'  
What a wonderful emotion  
Yeah, what a life  
Counting my blessings and knowin'  
Ooh, we had our ups and downs  
All along the way  
She had a chance to leave  
But chose to stay  
What a beautiful day_

Hinata'd gotten home early, an hour too early. I didn't know why I'd asked the girl up to our apartment. She really didn't care why I asked her up either. When she'd gotten home and found me in the living room macking on another girl, I didn't know what to do.

She stormed out as soon as she'd run home. She probably had really great news, but she didn't tell me. She moved out for days. Days one hundred ninety to one hundred ninety-four, I was alone in what had been our apartment for all those days.

I called, over and over, wondering if she'd gone to her father's house or to her cousin's, or maybe she'd gotten a whole new apartment and wanted me out of her life. When she answered my thirty-eighth call on day one hundred ninety-four, she told me she'd be home by night fall.

"I'm really sorry I did what I did."

"I doubt it, but I hope what happened taught you a lesson," she said, as quiet as ever on the other line.

_Day eighteen thousand two hundred and fifty-three  
Well, honey that's fifty years  
Yeah, here's to you and me_

She walked down the aisle, her cousin giving her away in her dream American wedding—her father having died just months before the wedding; we'd nearly canceled it, but her cousin, Neji, told them it wouldn't be what he would have wanted, referring to his uncle.

So, she had been handed from one family to the next. My hand held hers, wondering why the hell Americans had such long wedding processions. People spoke, the priest spoke, the bride and groom spoke. The priest spoke again and we kissed, a simple press of lips.

I knew that tonight I would take her and make her mine completely. It was making me nervous—that and meeting her whole family. I hadn't known she had a kid sister. I hadn't even known she'd had a sister. It was so strange.

But, after I made her mine, we spent days together before she had to go back to work and before I had to get back to my work.

Many days passed, and she discovered her pregnancy. She didn't tell me until it was a little late to hide. She'd been bashful about it all, blushing all the time and hiding out in our bedroom. We sat on the bed together, her gathered in my arms and us staring at her stomach.

"Hospital or at home?"

"Definitely the hospital. There is no way I'm going to allow my cousin so birth his nephew. He doesn't even know."

"Does any of your family know?"

She glanced at me and grinned knowingly. "Otou-san knows."

Day seven sixty-one came. Our baby boy was born in the morning, crying and screaming, signaling healthy lungs and many days of chasing the small boy down the halls of our new house. We'd bought it just after I'd found out.

_Oh, what a feelin'  
What a wonderful emotion  
Yeah, what a life  
Counting my blessings and knowin'  
Ooh, we had our ups and downs all along the way  
She had a chance to leave  
But chose to stay  
What a beautiful day  
What a beautiful day_

And, that leads to today, where my wife and I are sitting on our swing on the porch, looking out at the fields of what had been my father's land. I lay my hand over hers, smiling softly. It'd been seventeen years since our son had been born and we'd sold our house to move into my father's house, where my parents had lived together and died together.

I looked over at her as she lay her head on my shoulder. "I'm so glad."

"What?"

"That I said hello."

_Day one  
I thank God I said hello on 5th Ave_

00000

_**Disclaimer**: Don't own Naruto or the song "What A Beautiful Day"._

**_I hope you liked this, 'cos I had so much fun writing it. I had this song in mind, and I was just humming it, and humming it… It just sorta fell off my brain and into words on a document._**

**_Yay!_**

**_I should be working on another story, but I'm not. So, scold me, review my story, do something, just don't click the back button too soon!_**


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